Can You Land? has 23 aircraft, from the Cessna 172 that most real pilots learn on to the Space Shuttle and the X-15. Each one flies differently: the approach speed, how fast it may sink at touchdown, how much bank it forgives and how many coins a landing pays. The A320 is free; the rest are bought with coins earned by landing.
The trainer. Light, honest and unforgiving.
How to land it. Fly it on numbers. Hold about 3 degrees nose up on final, keep the speed on the yellow mark and make every stick input half the size you think it needs. The A320 is light, so it reacts quickly and overshoots quickly.
The real one. The first airliner flown with sidesticks and fly-by-wire, in 1988. Its computers will not let you bank past 67 degrees.
Every map with a runway.
Four engines and 400 tons of momentum. Everything happens late.
How to land it. Everything happens a second late. Start the flare earlier than in the A320, at about 40 feet, and stop correcting the line-up once you are below 100 feet: a late bank in a 747 is still rolling when the wheels arrive.
The real one. The hump exists because Boeing expected supersonic jets to take the passengers: the nose was built to swing open for cargo.
Every map with a runway.
The aircraft most pilots learn on. 65 knots, a high wing, wheels that stay down. Slow enough to think, light enough to stop on a farm strip.
How to land it. The best aircraft to learn on. It is slow, the gear stays down and it forgives a firm touchdown. Aim a little short, close the throttle over the bars and hold the nose up while it settles. If it floats, keep holding: it will sink.
The real one. About 45,000 have been built since 1956, more than any other aircraft. In 1958 one stayed in the air for 64 days over Las Vegas, refuelled from a car racing along beneath it.
Every map with a runway.
A private jet with too much wing. Fast, slippery, and it floats in the flare.
How to land it. Too much wing for its weight, so it floats. Arrive on speed, not above it: every extra knot over the fence is another 100 metres of floating. Close the throttle early and let it settle rather than pushing it down.
The real one. Flew around the world westbound in 41 hours in 2014 and holds dozens of city-to-city speed records.
Every map with a runway.
160 knots over the fence with the nose in the sky. Nobody lands this by accident. The droop nose is yours: slide the lever on the overhead, or N.
How to land it. The nose is high all the way down and you will not see much runway. Lower the droop nose on the overhead (or press N) early, keep the speed inside its narrow window and fly the PAPI rather than the view. A firm, positive touchdown beats a long float.
The real one. Cruised at Mach 2.02, so hot that the airframe stretched about 25 cm in flight. The nose drooped 12.5 degrees so the crew could see the runway.
Every map with a runway.
560 tons on two decks. Every runway looks short from up here, because it is.
How to land it. The biggest airliner is the least forgiving in sink rate: only 400 feet per minute and 4 degrees of bank at touchdown. Get stable early, high on the approach, and make the flare small and early. Never chase the centreline in the last seconds.
The real one. The biggest airliner ever built: 853 seats in an all-economy layout, and 22 wheels to carry 560 tons.
Every map with a runway.
Two of the biggest engines ever hung on a wing and a wing longer than the 747's. Heavy, but it does what you ask, a moment later.
How to land it. Heavy but obedient. Treat it like a 747 that listens: set up early, small corrections, flare at about 35 feet. It is one of the best types for big multipliers without the drama of the A380.
The real one. The first airliner designed entirely on computers, without a full-size mock-up. Each of its GE90 engines is nearly as wide as the body of a 737.
Every map with a runway.
Four turboprops, 117 knots, a ramp at the back and a gear that takes a beating. Arm the reverse and it stops on a patch of ice.
Reverse Thrust. Arm it on final: at touchdown the four propellers turn their blades and blow forward, and the Hercules stops in a fraction of the runway, ice or not.
How to land it. Arm REVERSE THRUST on final with REV on the panel or the F key. At touchdown the propellers flip and the Hercules stops in a few hundred metres, even on blue ice. The gear takes a beating, so a firm arrival is fine, but keep the wings level.
The real one. Flying since 1954 and still built, the longest production run of any military aircraft. In 1963 one landed on the carrier Forrestal and took off again with no hook and no catapult.
Every map with a runway.
Hook down, 136 knots, no flare. The wire does the stopping, if you find it.
How to land it. No flare. On the carrier you fly the Hornet down the glide path at a constant rate and let it hit the deck: the hook catches a wire and stops you. Flaring makes you float over every wire. Keep the PAPI at two and two and the wings level.
The real one. Traps on the carrier at full throttle, so a missed wire is a go-around instead of a swim.
Every map with a runway.
152 knots, thrust vectoring and no hook. Quicker than anything with a tail, and it lands only where there is concrete.
How to land it. Fast and very quick in roll, and it has no hook, so it cannot use the carrier. The danger is over-controlling: use tiny inputs, fly the speed precisely and let the runway come to you.
The real one. The first fifth generation fighter, in service since 2005. Its nozzles swivel twenty degrees up and down, so it can point its nose where no other aircraft can.
Every map with a runway.
194 knots, no drag chute for you, and a runway built for airliners. Titanium forgives nothing.
How to land it. Very fast over the fence and the margins are small: about 10 knots slow or 24 knots fast and it is a crash. Fly the speed first and the glide path second, and use the full length of the runway.
The real one. Flew at Mach 3.2 and 85,000 feet. It leaked fuel on the ground, because the tanks only sealed once the skin was hot.
Every map with a runway.
A kite with a 12 hp engine and the pilot lying on the wing. It flies at Kitty Hawk and nowhere else: skids on the sand, and a wind that is most of your airspeed.
How to land it. The wind is most of your airspeed. Glide off the dune, keep the nose just above the horizon and let the Flyer sink onto the sand. It has the softest limit in the game: under 280 feet per minute.
The real one. Twelve seconds and 37 metres on 17 December 1903, slower than a man can run, with Orville lying on the lower wing.
Flies only on Kitty Hawk.
The long nose hides the runway from the moment you flare, and the narrow gear punishes a wing down. A three-point landing or nothing.
Merlin Boost. Four seconds of Rolls-Royce: twice the control authority, no drift, flames out of the stacks.
How to land it. The long nose hides the runway in the flare, so look to the side of the nose and aim for a three point landing. The narrow gear punishes a wing down. MERLIN BOOST gives four seconds of extra control when a gust has you.
The real one. Its elliptic wing was drawn to be as thin as possible and still hold the wheels. More than 20,000 were built, more than any other British aircraft.
Every map with a runway.
A whale with wings. That huge side turns the aircraft into a weathervane in any crosswind, and it is loaded with two A350 wings.
How to land it. The huge side area turns the Beluga into a weathervane in crosswind. Expect to fly with a strong crab, and straighten it only in the last seconds before touchdown.
The real one. The Beluga XL carries two A350 wings at once. Its smiling whale face was picked in a vote by the Airbus staff.
Every map with a runway.
Six engines, 32 wheels, 640 tons. It answers the stick a full second later and needs every metre of concrete there is.
How to land it. Six engines, 32 wheels and a full second of delay on every input. Set up very early, stop correcting below 200 feet and use every metre of concrete. Its touchdown window is 4 degrees of bank.
The real one. The only one ever finished was the heaviest aircraft in the world and carried the Buran space shuttle on its back. It was destroyed at Hostomel in 2022.
Every map with a runway.
No engines. 195 knots, a glide seven times steeper than an airliner, and the one approach you get. The chute is yours to arm.
Drag Chute. Arm the chute: it opens at touchdown and stops the orbiter from any speed, so the runway cannot run out.
How to land it. No engines and one try. The glide is seven times steeper than an airliner, so you dive at the runway and flare late and hard. Arm the DRAG CHUTE: it opens at touchdown and stops the orbiter from any speed.
The real one. Came home as a glider on a 20 degree slope, seven times steeper than an airliner, at 195 knots, with no second try. On Mars it is the only thing that flies.
Every map with a runway.
Mach 6.7 on the way up, 200 knots and no power on the way down. Jettison the lower fin, then put it on its two steel skids and let it slide.
Fin Jettisoned. The lower fin hangs below the skids. Drop it on final, or it digs into the ground first. Not too early: without it the X-15 wanders more.
How to land it. Released from the B-52 at altitude. Follow the gates of the racetrack down: HIGH KEY, LOW KEY, downwind, final. Jettison the lower fin on final, not too early, then let it slide on the skids. Too fast on final is the usual mistake: raise the nose.
The real one. Flew 199 times between 1959 and 1968, reached Mach 6.7 and 108 km, and Neil Armstrong flew it before Apollo. Every flight ended as a glider on the dry lake at Edwards.
Every map with a runway.
Two turboprops on a high wing, a gear that never comes up, 120 knots down a fjord with a wall on either wing. It has landing lights, and in the fjord it needs them.
How to land it. Fly the fjord at a steady bank, never yanked. Past about 35 degrees of bank the Twin Otter stops turning and starts to slip down. Switch the landing lights on before the cave, and keep the speed back so the bends come slowly.
The real one. First flown in 1965 and built again since 2008. On wheels, skis or floats it goes where nothing else can: Twin Otters have flown rescues to the South Pole in the dark of the polar winter.
Flies only on The Fjord.
The Swiss short field legend: 78 knots over the fence, a long nose, a tail wheel. It turns tight and stops short, and on this strip it needs both.
How to land it. A short field legend. It turns tight and stops short, which is exactly what the Alpine Switchback asks. Fly slowly, plan each turn early and put it down at the very start of the shelf.
The real one. Built by Pilatus in Stans from 1959 to 2022. In 1960 one landed on the Dhaulagiri glacier at 5,750 metres, a height record for a landing on fixed wings.
Flies only on Alpine Switchback.
Three engines on a wing high over a boat hull. 87 knots, a lot of wing, and it lands on its keel: keep the wings level, the sponsons hate a wave.
How to land it. A flying boat lands on its hull, so there is no gear to lower. Keep the wings dead level at touchdown: the sponsons at the sides dig into the water if a wing is down. Touch at a low sink rate and let the hull do the braking.
The real one. Dornier built it in 1937 for the Dutch navy in the East Indies. During the war Do 24s rescued more than 12,000 people from the sea. One was rebuilt with modern engines as the Do 24 ATT and flew around the world in 2004.
Flies only on The Maldives.
160 metres long, 200 of wing, 185 knots and the reactions of a cathedral. Start every correction ten seconds before you need it.
How to land it. A cathedral with wings. Start every correction about ten seconds before you need it and keep the approach long and straight. If you are chasing it, you are already late.
The real one. Lockheed drew it in 1969 as a flying aircraft carrier with a nuclear reactor, 1,800 tons and a span of over 340 metres. It never left the drawing board.
Every map with a runway.
The Twin Otter on floats, as the resorts fly it every day. Lent for the lagoon, and it pays like the A320: your own Twin Otter with the float kit pays its own ×1.5.
How to land it. Lent to everybody for the Maldives lagoon. Follow the floating lights between the islands and touch down between the buoys at a low sink rate, wings level.
The real one. Most seaplanes in the Maldives are Twin Otters on floats: the biggest seaplane fleet in the world flies out of Male, between hundreds of islands with nowhere to put a runway.
Lent for The Maldives.
Nobody knows who built it. It drops like a stone when you ask, and turns only when it wants to.
How to land it. Lent for THE IMPOSSIBLE only. It drops like a stone when you push and turns only when it wants to: plan every turn early and never let the sink rate run away.
The real one. Lent for THE IMPOSSIBLE only. Where it came from, nobody asks.
Lent for The Impossible.
New to the game? Start with the free A320 on the Island, then buy the Cessna 172 for the Farm Strip. The landing guide explains the basics.
PLAY CAN YOU LAND?